Texas Deputies Add To Chupacabra Legend

DeWITT COUNTY, Texas -- The legend of a mythical blood-sucking animal roaming South Texas gained new life over the weekend as two DeWitt County sheriff's deputies spotted what they said they believe was the creature.

Cpl. Brandon Riedel was training a new deputy on Friday when he said they saw something running down a dirt path along fence lines.

"You need to record something like this because it's not everyday you find something that looks like this, running around out in the middle of the county," he said.The short-legged, hairless animal had a long snout that looked like a coyote, Riedel said. But he admitted he wasn't convinced.

"You know, it's just kind of one of those things to hear about and talk about, but to actually see something on video that may actually be a live one, that's pretty amazing," DeWitt County Sheriff Jode Zavesky said.

Friday's sighting isn't the first time locals believe they've seen the mythical animal, which is rumored to attack livestock and pets. Stories about the chupacabra go back to the 1990s.

And a rancher in 2007 found a dead animal near the town of Cuero that was thought to be a chupacabra.

Biologists at Texas State University-San Marcos tested DNA taken from the remains of the animal and found it to be a coyote."It's like every good urban legend," Erik McCowan said. "Maybe it's better to just think it is the chupacabra and just leave it at that."